An Education
Mon, Dec 14—Thu, Dec 17 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:20pm
Directed by Lone Scherfig
With Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams
(PG-13), 100min
"[Mulligan] makes the role luminous... She has such lightness and grace, you're pretty sure this is the birth of a star." —Roger Ebert
It’s 1961 and attractive, bright 16-year-old schoolgirl, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is poised on the brink of womanhood, dreaming of a rarefied, Gauloise-scented existence as she sings along to Juliette Greco in her Twickenham bedroom. Stifled by the tedium of adolescent routine, Jenny can’t wait for adult life to begin.
Meanwhile, she’s a diligent student, excelling in every subject except the Latin that her father is convinced will land her the place she dreams of at Oxford University. One rainy day, her suburban life is upended by the arrival of an unsuitable suitor, 30-ish David (Peter Sarsgaard).
Very quickly, David introduces Jenny to a glittering new world of classical concerts and late-night suppers with his attractive friend and business partner, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Danny’s girlfriend, the beautiful but vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike). David replaces Jenny’s traditional education with his own version, picking her up from school in his Bristol roadster and whisking her off to art auctions and smoky clubs.
Just as the family’s long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford seems within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life. Will David be the making of Jenny or her undoing?
Synopsis courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
San Francisco Chronicle on An Education
"Hornby's humane and humorous screenplay is true to the film's title: In short order, young Jenny finds out important truths about identity, glamour and how adults really think and live." More
Roger Ebert on An Education
"...romantic and wonderfully entertaining." More